Pairs
by that one little guy
Summary: They were wonderful, unless you were the one who didn't belong to one. Implied shipping, but it's not the main focus.


**A/N: **Welp. Hi there. First Digimon fic. Go me. I love irony and foreshadowing, I love Frontier, and I love putting off homework. So this was inevitable. (I really should be writing something about Ken, but I have no good ideas… I fail as a fangirl…)

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"Hellooooooo, what have we here?"

Koji Minamoto honestly couldn't care less what they had here; all he cared about was that his feet were tired from all this walking and he just wanted to sit down. But the interest in Takuya's voice and Tommy's gasp of delight convinced him that maybe he should look up from the ground and see what it was.

"…It's a big tree. So what?"

"Ah-_ha_," said Bokomon, putting on his best scholarly airs as he flipped open his oversized encyclopedia. "This is not just any tree, my warriors… this is the famous Four Fruit Tree of the Digital World! As you likely surmised from its name, it has four different kinds of fruit growing on it, and – "

"It's got apples _and _oranges _and _bananas _and pineapples! _YIPPEE!" Tommy cheered, racing over to it before anybody else could react.

"Wait a minute!" said JP, ever the pragmatist. "How can _one _tree grow all those different kinds of fruit? That's not possible!"

Zoe sighed wearily. "JP, you took a talking train to another world, and you can turn into a giant insect warrior that shoots lightning. You're going to draw the line at _this?_"

"…Point taken. Let's eat!"

That sounded like a fabulous idea, and so everyone excitedly raced up to the tree after Tommy and prepared to start stuffing their faces. Koji didn't join in, though. He wasn't particularly hungry and so just resigned himself to plucking an apple off a nearby branch, munching on it absentmindedly as he leaned against the tree.

The other guys sure looked like they were having fun, though. It was almost cute.

"Okay Tommy, you ready?" called Takuya, who had apparently already shimmied up the tree trunk and was now dangling upside-down from a branch. "I'm gonna count to three."

"I'm ready, Takuya!" Tommy called back up dutifully, perched right underneath him as he held his big poofy hat out upside-down.

"Awesome. One… two… THREE!" He started jostling back and forth and shaking the branch with his whole body, causing an entire cascade of apples to come tumbling out of the tree. Tommy laughed in delight as he scampered around, catching all the apples in his hat as they fell.

"Thanks for letting me help, Takuya," he said once the older boy had dropped down to the ground. "I'm really glad you're letting me hang out with you…"

"Hey, sure thing. Did I not tell you? I've got a little brother back at home who's about your age. I guess hanging out with you makes me not miss him quite as much." Takuya paused and blinked. "Huh… that's weird."

"What's weird?"

"I didn't realize I missed him at _all_." He grinned and started giving Tommy a noogie. "Geez, what're you doing to me, kiddo?"

Koji was watching all of this, looking mildly impressed. _He sure knows how to make that kid happy. Guess it's 'cause he's got a brother… I wonder what that's like._

On the other side of the tree, Zoe was trying to reach up and grab a bunch of particularly luscious-looking oranges from a low-hanging branch, but they were all just out of her reach.

"Come on… oh, come on…"

"Why don't you just turn into Kazemon and _fly _up?" JP suggested.

Zoe pouted and folded her arms. "No way, JP. I don't need to turn into a Digimon to do something as simple as getting dinner."

"Okay, okay, fine… how about I help you then? I can lift you up and you can…"

He broke off as he saw her glaring at him. "Nice try. You already _tried _that one on me."

He realized what she was talking about. "What? Oh, come on! Is this still about the skirt?" He put on his best puppy dog face. "Come on, I promise I won't look… I just wanted to help."

Zoe kept pouting at him, but it seemed like it was mostly just to get a rise out of him. Finally she put on a smile and said, "Well, all right… I guess it couldn't hurt."

JP gasped. "YAHOO!" he cheered, a little too excitedly, and with the strength befitting a Legendary Warrior, he grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her up onto his shoulder. She shrieked in astonishment but then quickly started laughing, and sure enough, she could easily reach the oranges from where she was sitting.

Koji gave a smirk as he watched. _She could do worse, _he thought, not really sure why he was thinking it. _I mean, he's strong and smart and really nice… and geez, he just keeps throwing himself at her feet… you'd think she could take a hint._

Meanwhile, Neemon had just come walking over to Bokomon while straining under the weight of an enormous bunch of bananas. After cheering about how they could use them to make "pumpkin pie", he ended up dropping the whole thing on the other Digimon's foot, which naturally earned him a very loud yelp and a painful slap of elastic, and within moments the two of them were squabbling away like they always did.

_Even _those _two dingbats… _Koji thought incredulously, staring at them for a moment before turning away in alarm. _Wait a minute… no. This is just… I don't believe it. This isn't happening._

It was happening, though. It had finally dawned on him, and as he realized it, that old familiar hurt was all of a sudden starting to creep back, and try as he might, he couldn't push it back this time like he always did.

_Not again… _please… _what do I have to do to make it stop?!_

By now everyone else was playing and eating together, not seeming to notice or care that Koji was still off by himself like always. All he could do was wince and turn his gaze away, focusing solely on his apple, trying as hard as he could to block out the scene in front of him.

It wasn't like this had never happened before. In fact, this was how it always happened. Koji always tried to convince himself that he didn't care, that he _liked _it this way, but that was all of a sudden getting impossible to do.

The fact was, he always got this same sick feeling of dread in his stomach whenever he found himself in a group with an odd number of people… because somehow, he was always the one…

He glowered down at his apple. _Why do I _care _so much?_ he thought. _This is the way it always is… so why do I care so much when it's _these _guys?_

He already knew the answer, of course. As ridiculous as it was, it was true.

_Because they're the closest thing you've ever had to friends._

_––_

By the time they had finished eating, the sun had set and night had fallen, the temperature dropping along with it, and the group had unanimously decided that they didn't feel like traveling any further that night. And so after regaling each other with the usual array of campfire stories, they had all stretched out and gone to sleep.

JP's act of chivalry had apparently paid off in spades, as Zoe had actually deigned to let him sleep next to her. Tommy, in the meantime, was snuggled up next to Takuya, grateful he had found somebody to look after him in this strange and frankly scary world, and Bokomon and Neemon were sprawled out together on the ground, the former protectively hugging his large book to his chest.

After a little while, Takuya blinked his eyes open and realized that someone was missing from the campfire. Somehow, he wasn't surprised in the slightest. Lifting his head up, he looked over to the tree and saw a solitary figure leaning against the trunk, hands in its pockets, gazing up listlessly at the sky.

Takuya got up and walked over to Koji, still not surprised when the other boy gave no sign that he'd heard him approach.

"So, what's up?" he asked casually, folding his hands behind his head.

"Nothing."

"Uh huh. Sure. It's always something with you." Takuya dropped his hands to his sides. "You can talk to me, you know. We shouldn't keep secrets from each other."

Koji still didn't say anything for a moment. To his surprise, he actually found himself looking over at Tommy, still curled up by the fire. He remembered how much fun he and Takuya had picking apples together, and suddenly he was trying as hard as he could not to look jealous.

"You really love that kid."

Takuya looked at him. "What, Tommy?" He shrugged. "What's not to love? He's a sweet kid. And like I said, he's a lot like my little brother… actually, he said something to me about having a big brother back home." He grinned. "Heh. Isn't that funny?"

Koji rolled his eyes and turned away. "Yeah. How quaint," he muttered, folding his arms. "I guess that makes you two perfect for each other. Like two little peas in a pod."

Takuya frowned. "What's your problem?" he asked. "Look, I know _you _think he's just a little brat, but – "

"It's not about that!"

Takuya looked exasperated. "Then what _is _it?" he demanded. "Man, you're a real ball of sunshine, aren't you? You don't have to look down on us for being friends with each other! Just because _you _don't have anybody – "

He instantly broke off, realizing too late what he'd said. Koji didn't even react, though, except to narrow his gaze a little bit more.

"Go on. Go ahead and say it."

Takuya, obviously, said nothing. He immediately dropped his gaze to his hands and started wringing them together, experiencing a rare moment of flagging self-confidence.

"Koji, no… I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"It's true, though. Trust me, I'm well aware."

Takuya sighed. "Look… none of us were very friendly with each other when we first got here, but we're all close now." Of course, Koji had been wandering off by himself at the time; he wouldn't even know _that. _"You know, if you'd just try…"

"I _have _tried," he said firmly. "And it hasn't worked. You wanna know why?"

Takuya stared back at him, unsure of what to say.

"It's because I'm missing something," he said bluntly, not caring how stupid he sounded for this one moment. "I can't even explain it, but it's just… there's something wrong… it's like, whenever I go to sleep at night, it's like there's supposed to be somebody there next to me, but there's _not. _And there's nothing I can do about it because I don't even understand it." He glared over at the campfire. "But hey, don't worry about me. You guys all found _your_ somebody to sleep next to. Without even _trying._"

Takuya didn't say anything. Koji didn't expect him to. There was nothing to say in response to that. Anyway, he'd never opened up like that to _anybody _before, and he honestly didn't want to hear what Takuya had to say on the matter. He was embarrassed enough as it was.

"You don't know what it's like, Mister Friends-with-everybody," he muttered. "So don't pretend like you do."

Takuya just lowered his gaze to the ground, looking guilty. Koji probably should have felt bad, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"You know we all think of you as a friend."

"I'm sure you do."

Takuya finally hanged his head, realizing he wasn't going to get any further tonight. "Come on back when you're ready."

Koji didn't even bother responding, just turning away unconcernedly as Takuya turned around and wandered back over to the campfire, where he'd surely be welcome among all his friends. Because people like him were welcome everywhere they went.

_I shouldn't have gotten angry at him, _Koji thought grudgingly. _He can't help being the way he is. It's just… I'm so sick and tired of this. It's like I go to a completely different _world _and I still can't get away from it…_

This happened everywhere he went… and come to think of it, it happened at home too. His dad and his m… his stepmom. They were a perfect pair, judging by how happy they were together. And apparently he just didn't fit anywhere in that equation.

_Maybe if Mom were still around, she and I would… _No. Don't think like that. Don't make it worse.

After a little while, long after Takuya had fallen asleep with the others, he finally plodded back over to the dying campfire and lay down on his back, folding his hands behind his head and gazing up at the three moons hanging in the alien sky. Nobody else moved or stirred at his arrival, and for a while everything was quiet and still in the Digital World, no one to be found under the sky except for their strange little group.

Three pairs… and one Koji.

_This isn't supposed to be me, _he thought. _I'm not supposed to feel like this all the time… but I do. And I don't know why. _

_And I don't know if I ever will._

Eventually he dropped off to sleep, but it was only because he'd managed to console himself the same way he always had, ever since he was little, for as long as he could remember: by closing his eyes and pretending that somewhere out there, maybe closer than he thought, somebody else was feeling the same way.


End file.
